Protection of women from domestic violence still awaits implementation

Dec 23, 2015

Protection of women from domestic violence still awaits implementation

Source : India Today

Insufficient protection officers, failure on the part of the judiciary and police and paucity of basic services and infrastructure are proving to be hindrances in executing this legal provision.

Even as the December 16 gang rape had highlighted the concern for women safety, domestic violence continues to be overlooked and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 still awaits proper implementation.

Insufficient protection officers, failure on the part of the judiciary and police and paucity of basic services and infrastructure are proving to be hindrances in executing this legal provision.

According to the latest data with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the number of states having protection officers, who are key enablers to assess domestic violence, has increased from six to ten (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi).

But in 29 states and seven Union Territories of the country, the number of protection officers has come down by half from 6,279 to 3,145 in the last three years. Figures tell a sorry tale as a state like Maharashtra showed the steepest decline of 33 per cent.

"Statistics show an alarming decline in the number of cases registered, an improper budget allocation for the implementation of the Act and a 50 per cent decrease in the number of protection officers. These are serious problems and need to be addressed on a priority basis," Dr Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre for Social Research (CSR) said.

Even though Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act has been enacted by the central government, it is the state's responsibility to implement the act. All states implement the act as per their own choice and existing infrastructure.

"Each state has a different budget allocated to Act. While on one hand Karnataka has been allocated Rs 800 lakh in 2015-16, on the other hand Delhi had been allocated Rs 45 lakh for the implementation of this act in 2013-14," said Dr Kumari. "All these factors are compounded by neglect on behalf of the state in terms of maintenance of records, leading to inaccessibility of data among the public," she said.

In 2013, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reported 3,09,546 cases of violence against women of which 118,866 were cases of domestic violence.

While in 2014, NCRB for the first time published data on Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, with only 426 cases registered under the Act for the entire year. According to the Economic Survey of Ministry of Finance 2014, the enactment of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act remains weak as 19 states have no planned schemes.

"No special attention is paid to awareness generation and sensitisation of judicial officers, police and general public. Cases pertaining to domestic violence are often registered under general FIR and not specifically under the Act. Also, a large number of unrecorded cases are also there," said Julie Thekkudan, lead specialist of gender justice at Oxfam India.

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